New Jack City (1991) - By.Smelly-Cat
New Jack City, the definitive urban gangster film starring Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Chris Rock, Mario Van Peebles (who also directs) and Judd Nelson, arrives on a two-disc Special Edition DVD on 2 November 2005 from Warner Home Video. Just as cool and topical today as when it premiered in 1991, New Jack City updates the gangster genre with a hip - hop twist.
The cutting-edge soundtrack, which includes tunes by Ice-T, Queen Latifah and 2 Live Crew, was the first ever to blend rap, pop and R&B and produced simultaneous chart-topping singles in all three categories.
New Jack City is the first film to bring the urban culture and hip -hop lifestyle into the mainstream. In his directorial debut, Mario Van Peebles (Baadasssss!) fuses elements from genre classics like Scarface, Public Enemy and The Godfather with the energy of the Harlem streets, and, in so doing, creates a modern-day crime epic with a vivid sense of authenticity.
New Jack City is both scathing and cautionary in its depiction of New York Cityâ€™s crack epidemic of the â€˜80s. The film is filled with breakout performances from Chris Rock, Ice-T and Wesley Snipes whose charismatic turn as Nino Brown established him as an actor to watch and earned him a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture. New Jack City was also nominated for three MTV Movie Awards including Best Breakthrough Performance (Ice-T) and Best Villain (Snipes).
New Jack City chronicles the rise and fall of ruthless drug lord Nino Brown. A criminal businessman with no time for pity or emotion, the flashy but severe Brown has built an empire and transformed an abandoned Harlem ap artment building into a well-defended fortress. Brown considers himself invincible but his lust for power threatens to bring about his potential downfall.
Ice-T, Judd Nelson and Mario Van Peebles are streetwise cops heading the operation against Brown, with Chris Rock also starring as a recovering coke addict who attempts to infiltrate Brownâ€™s inner circle. Allen Payne (The Perfect Storm, â€œThe Cosby Showâ€), Vanessa Williams (â€œSoul Foodâ€), Bill Nunn (Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man) and Michael Michele (TVâ€™s â€œKevin Hillâ€ and â€œERâ€) round out the outstanding supporting cast.
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Nino Brown is an American success story, an entrepreneur who's found the ultimate cash crop: crack. Nino thinks he's untouchable but he's wrong: a handful of street-smart cops are determined to bring him down. New Jack City is a gangster movie for the '90s, a hard-hitting tale with "a gritty antidrug message" (Roger Ebert, Siskel & Ebert). Ice T (his film debut), Judd Nelson and Mario Van Peebles (who also directs) portray policemen who lay it all on the line. Wesley Snipes is the angel-of-death kingpin with a city in his grasp. A dynamic cutting-edge soundtrack sports tunes by Ice T, Christopher Williams, 2 Live Crew and more.
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A violent, kinetic gangster film with a strong anti-drug message, NEW JACK CITY is set in the mid-1980s during the height of the crack epidemic. Two street-wise undercover cops (Judd Nelson, Mario Van Peebles) go after Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes), a ruthless drug lord with extravagant taste in home furnishings. Desperate to bring down his multi-million dollar cocaine empire, they send Pookie (Chris Rock), a former street hustler and rehabilitated crack addict, into Nino's drug factory as an undercover spy. When the plan misfires, the cops must face Nino and his henchman in a bloody showdown.
NOTES:
Rated BBFC 18 by the British Board of Film Censors. Estimated budget of $8.5 million. Shot on location in Harlem and the Bronx, New York, in Technicolor. Began shooting April 16, 1990; completed shooting June 6, 1990. Released in North America March 8, 1991. Released on video August 7, 1991. Rereleased in New York City for a special run at the Joseph Papp Public Theater September 6-19, 1991. Directorial debut for actor Mario Van Peebles, the son of actor and pioneering black director Melvin Van Peebles. A $40 million dollar law suit was filed in New York Supreme Court in June 17, 1991 by Kurt Anthony against Wesley Snipes and the films producers. Anthony, an actor and screenwriter, claimed that Snipes lifted the idea for the film directly from a screenplay entitled "Innocent Blood" that Anthony had written and shown to Snipes. Shown at Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah January 17-27, 1991. According to Variety, the film was presented as a "last-minute 'special preview' to stimulate dialog[ue] about drug issues before its March release." Also shown at Filmfest Munich (International Program) June 1991 and International Taormina Film Festival July 21-28, 1991.
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Actors: Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Chris Rock, Mario Van Peebles, Judd Nelson
Director: Mario Van Peebles
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 16:9 Enhanced
Transfer Format: Widescreen
Video Encoding: Xvid
Audio Encoding: MP3 128kbps
Category: Drama - Thriller - Crime/Mystery
Format: PAL DVD rip
Year: 1991
Rating: R18+
Languages: English
Subtitles: None
Running Time: 1:36:23